Reincarnated into the world of One Piece, in a land of giants with open eyes?!

Chapter 143: Gone Mad

John remembered that just a moment ago he was in a casino in that smuggling port in the New World.

He had just won a small sum of money and was wondering whether he should use it to find a girl to have some fun, or go back to the card table to try his luck again.

Then everything around me changed.

There was no sound, no light, and not even any discomfort.

It's like someone suddenly took the whole world away and replaced it with another one.

The casino's clamor vanished instantly, replaced by a deathly silence.

John found himself standing on a dirt road.

The dirt road was lined with coniferous forests, and the tall, straight trees cast heavy shadows in the night.

There was a damp smell of grass and soil in the air, completely different from the salty smell of the sea breeze.

The moon hung overhead, casting a cold, white light.

He froze, still clutching those few Pele coins in his hand.

"This is fucking amazing!"

John instinctively uttered half a curse, but the second half got stuck in his throat.

He looked around; he had never been to this place before.

The architecture is reminiscent of old Western wooden houses, the streets are rammed earth roads, and the outline of a small town can be seen in the distance.

There were a few lights in the town, but it was too quiet, unnaturally quiet.

"woke up?"

The voice came from behind.

John turned around abruptly, his hand already on the hilt of his knife, but he froze the moment he saw who it was.

Lox D. Gibber stood five steps behind him.

This once-mighty pirate, who once dominated the New World, now wore a dusty cloak and wore a smile on his unshaven face.

But something was off about that smile; it was too gentle, too gentle for Rocks.

Rocks's smile should be a wild and arrogant grin, not this pale-faced look.

"Boss?" John called out tentatively.

"it's me."

Rocks' voice was also very gentle, even somewhat—elegant?

"I've been waiting for you for a long time, John. You're a little slow."

John's mind was a mess. He remembered that he had arranged to contact Lockes again the next day, and Lockes hadn't told him to come right away.

Moreover, it would take him several months to travel from the New World to the West Sea, even by the fastest ship. How could he have gotten here so quickly?

"How could you—"

John wanted to ask how you got me here, but he swallowed the words back.

He remembered the Golden Emperor's instructions and the promise of a fivefold reward.

He needs to stay calm and gather intelligence.

Rocks seemed to read his mind and shook his head with a smile: "Don't think too much about it, John."

"Come with me, I have something important for you to do."

He turned and walked toward the town, his pace neither hurried nor slow.

John followed, observing as he walked. The town's streets were deserted, and the doors and windows of the houses on both sides were tightly shut.

There seemed to be shadows flickering behind some windows, but they quickly disappeared.

The town was eerily quiet, with only his and Lockes' footsteps echoing on the dirt road.

They walked through several streets and came to a relatively impressive building.

It was a two-story wooden house, larger than the surrounding houses, with two pillars standing at the entrance, on which hung the emblem of the God Valley royal family.

Is this the royal palace?

John even looked down on it, noting that the royal palace of this small country was so simple that it was not as luxurious as some pirate strongholds in the New World.

The gate was open.

John followed Lockes into the hall.

The sight in the hall made his face twitch.

Dead body.

Corpses were everywhere.

They all looked like members of the royal family, lying on the ground.

Their deaths were strange; there were no obvious wounds on their bodies, but their skin was frighteningly shriveled, as if all the blood had been drained from them.

Everyone's expression was frozen in terror and pain, their eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling.

A pool of dark red liquid had accumulated on the floor in the center of the hall.

That is blood.

There was so much blood that it formed a shallow layer, covering an area about ten meters square in the center of the floor.

The surface of the pool of blood rippled slightly, gleaming eerily in the moonlight streaming through the window.

Lockes walked to the edge of the pool of blood, looked down at it, and then nodded with satisfaction.

"That's about it," he said.

John stood at the door, too afraid to go any further inside.

His palms were sweating, and his back was cold.

He tried to turn and run away, but his legs felt like they were made of lead and he couldn't move.

Moreover, he knew he couldn't escape easily. If Rocks could bring him here from the New World in an instant, he would definitely be able to catch him before he could run away.

"Don't just stand there, John."

Lox turned and glanced at him, then beckoned: "Come here, stand next to me."

John swallowed hard and forced himself to start walking.

He carefully walked around the corpse on the ground and approached Locke.

The smell of blood assaulted his nostrils, a strong metallic rust mixed with a hint of sweetness that made him want to vomit.

"Boss, this is—" John's voice trembled slightly.

"Necessary preparations."

Lox spoke casually, as if discussing dinner: "These people's blood contains a little bit—well, ancient remnants. Though diluted, it's enough."

John didn't understand, but he didn't dare ask any more questions.

He noticed that Lockes' behavior was really strange. He spoke with restrained gestures, stood up straight, and even the way he wiped the blood off his hands had a deliberate elegance.

This was not the Rocks he knew at all.

That Rocks would have stepped on the corpse, swore loudly, and chug wine down his throat; he would never have stood by the wine pool like a nobleman attending a banquet.

"What are you thinking about, John?" Rocks suddenly asked.

John was startled and quickly shook his head: "No, nothing. It's just that I feel—boss, you seem a little different."

""

Lox laughed, reached out and patted John on the shoulder, the blood on his hand staining John's clothes.

The blood on Lox's hands seemed impossible to wipe off.

"People always change, John. Especially after going through something profound."

After speaking, Locke turned and walked toward the throne, which was a simple iron chair at the end of the hall.

He did not sit down, but stood in front of the throne, facing the entrance to the hall.

"Let's begin."

Lox raised his hands and made a strange gesture, interlacing his fingers with his palms facing outwards, then slowly separating them.

As this action was performed, the pool of blood in the center of the hall began to ripple.

Ripples spread across the surface of the pool of blood, extending to the edges before returning to form intricate patterns.

The dark red liquid flowed under the moonlight, gradually outlining a circular pattern that covered the entire pool of blood.

The patterns contained symbols that John couldn't understand; they were very distorted, like some kind of ancient script.

Locke maintained the gesture and began to chant.

He wasn't speaking the Common Language, nor any language John had ever heard.

The voice was deep and strange, with distorted syllables.

With each syllable that falls, the patterns in the pool of blood light up a little more, and the dark red luster becomes more vibrant, like freshly flowed blood.

John sensed a change in the air.

The temperature in the hall dropped, and a chilling aura emanated from the pool of blood.

The bodies of the dead royals began to twitch slightly, and although they were no longer able to move, John swore he saw the fingers of several of the corpses bend slightly.

Sounds came from the street outside the door.

Footsteps.

The sound of many people's footsteps, in unison, approached from afar.

John turned to look at the doorway.

The first person to appear outside the door was a middle-aged man dressed in the coarse cloth clothes of an ordinary resident, with no expression on his face and empty eyes.

He walked straight into the hall, not even glancing at the corpses on the ground, and went directly to the pool of blood.

The dark red liquid reached his ankles and then his calves.

He continued walking forward until he reached the center of the pool of blood, where he lay down.

Blood soaked through his clothes and stained his skin red.

He rolled in the pool of blood, covering himself completely, then stood up, turned around, and walked straight out.

He remained silent throughout the entire process, and his facial expression never changed.

After the first resident went out, the second one came in.

He walked into the pool of blood with the same expressionless face, lay down, rolled around, covered in blood, and then left.

Then came the third, the fourth —

Residents lined up and entered the hall one by one.

Among them were men and women, the elderly and children, and everyone had the same expression: indifference, empty eyes, as if they had lost their souls.

They silently completed the eerie ritual and silently left.

Only the sounds of blood being stirred and the footsteps of residents coming and going filled the hall.

John trembled as he slowly backed away, finally curling up beside the throne, his body shaking uncontrollably.

John watched the residents walk out, their bodies stained with blood, each step firm and purposeful, as if they were determined to accomplish an important mission at all costs.

crazy!

Rocks was absolutely insane.

Everyone in this godforsaken place has gone mad!